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SIS LIVE operates two teleports, Milton Keynes andMediaCityUK, both in the UK. Between them they have 20antennas, provided by General Dynamics. The teleports arelinked to each other, as well as many major broadcast venuesaround the UK, via fibre.
The Milton Keynes Teleport has been operational since2006 and is home to 11 antennas with sizes in the range of2.4-4.7m that operate on Ku, C and DBS bands. The sitedistributes 93hr/day of live transmissions and uses 60-70percent of its installed capacity.
MediaCityUK went live in 2012 when SIS LIVE relocatedits headquarters from London to Salford. It is the largestteleport in the north of England, and has nine antennas thatrange from 3.8-9m and operate on Ku, Ka, C and DBS bands.
The site distributes 250hr/day of live transmissions and usesless than 50 percent of its installed capacity.
According to Meynell, the biggest challenge from therelocation to MediaCityUK was the continuation ofuninterrupted, high quality services and the retention of keytalent. Continuity and quality of services during the move wereprimarily tackled with excellent planning and projectmanagement.
Location packages were offered to all staff, which allowedthem to move either to MediaCityUK or Milton Keynes and agood percentage of talent was retained.
Both teleports have best in class back-up capabilities,including UPS power supplies with backup generators in caseof power cuts. The teleports can therefore operate for many
SIS LIVE: the transition to aconnectivity companySIS LIVE is a prominent provider of services to the global satellite communications industry. Itdistributes more than 100,000hr/yr of satellite broadcasting and contributes 80 percent of theUK’s live news feeds. SIS also provides satellite mobile broadband and IP connectivity throughoutthe world, in addition to connectivity services such as terrestrial fibre and teleport facilities. AmySaunders visited SIS LIVE’s Milton Keynes Teleport and spoke to David Meynell, ManagingDirector, and John Bozza, Commercial Director, to find out about SIS LIVE’s development andcapabilities.
SIS LIVE operates two teleports, Milton Keynes and MediaCityUK, both in the UK. Photo courtesy SIS LIVE
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hours without external power and each one backs up theother.
SIS LIVE does not currently have expansion plans ateither teleport, although new antennas were installed at MiltonKeynes in 2015 and the MediaCityUK teleport has sparecapacity to accommodate further growth of services.
Both teleports have Network Operations Centres (NOCs),which provide 24/7 coverage, 365 days a year. The NOCscontrol and monitor the teleports and collect satellite data tobe routed to galleries and studios on site or through centralhubs like the BT Tower in London. They also monitor SISLIVE’s expansive fibre infrastructure for multiple clients,delivering uninterrupted services on multiple platforms.
The two NOCs are interchangeable in terms of disasterrecovery, although for some services they have differentcapabilities. They are manned by engineers, whose skill setshave had to change over the years, as the boom in IPtechnologies has meant that a mixture of broadcast and IPskills are required, whereas in the past those skill sets existedseparately.
Global satellite capacitySIS LIVE sources 500MHz of permanently leased capacityfrom many satellites around the world. It also has a significantamount of occasional use (OU) capacity. Most of its capacityis in Europe as it is mainly a UK-based provider, although inthe last 12-18 months, SIS LIVE’s global coverage has grown.Recent investments include capacity over the Middle Eastthrough Eutelsat, as well as a new deal that gives it accessto SES’ full fleet of global satellites. In the coming year, SISLIVE’s satellite capacity is likely to grow by 10-20 percent.
As the company has evolved from an SNG to a
connectivity company, its needs have changed. While the newHTS satellites coming online enable a lot of new opportunities,SIS LIVE bases its capacity leases around what makes thebest deal for its customers, be it satellite, microwave, fibre,or a mixture of all three. The majority of its recent deals havebeen for hybrid services.
For sporting events in the UK, a shift is being seen fromsatellite to fibre. Part of the driving force is that fibre is usuallybetter for broadcasting HD and Ultra HD feeds due to theincreased bandwidth required. Changes in remote productionare also providing a boost to fibre popularity; broadcastersare increasingly requesting more feeds be deliveredsimultaneously to a central gallery to reduce production costs.This also requires large amounts of bandwidth that fibre canprovide more easily and cheaply.
There are, however, some events that will always becovered by satellite, like golf. The remote locations only hostone or two events each year, making fibre installations thereuneconomical. “If we’re providing content from St Andrews,we’re not going to cover the cost in a twelve or even eighteen-month contract for the installation of fibre,” said Bozza. Thedevelopment of enhanced modulation technologies thatreduce bandwidth requirements are helping satellite retainits feasibility for other applications, and it remains the bestmethod for broadcasting to wide-spread and remote locations.
Fibre networks and hybrid connectivityThe company has an extensive fibre network throughout theUK that connects the Milton Keynes and MediaCityUKTeleports with key sporting venues, major broadcasters,network operators and connectivity providers. Locationsinclude BT, Virgin, the BBC, ITV, all Premier League football
As SIS LIVE has evolved from an SNG to a connectivity company, its needs have changed. Photo courtesy SIS LIVE
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grounds, Alexandra Palace and the Olympic Stadium.Anything from low-rate bit-stream and Ultra HD to data andaudio can be broadcast.
SIS LIVE currently has around 70 connected venues, andplans to expand by 30-40 percent to more than 100 in thenext year, with a focus on more race courses and sportsvenues. Bozza said that SIS LIVE’s next fibre frontier is theinternational stage. The company is considering establishingmore overseas capabilities, including fibre connectivity,teleports and NOCs.
SIS LIVE works with a variety of telecommunicationcompanies, enabling it to offer ‘dual path’ solutions; at certainvenues, it has fibre capabilities from two different providers.This allows more back-up options to customers, which, Bozzapointed out, is important because, “We’re expected to delivera service that is commensurate to the significant amount thatis being paid for, especially when it comes to major sportingevents.”
The value of hybrid broadcasting was highlighted duringone of SIS LIVE’s recent events. During the 2015 Rugby WorldCup, Prince Harry flew his helicopter into Twickenham directlyin front of the microwave path, which was completely outsideof the company’s control. “It was a good thing that we weren’trelying on just one route out of the stadium!” said Bozza.
There are, however, also challenges to consider withhybrid broadcasting. NOC engineers must be trained in amuch wider range of technologies than ever before, and theservice must look seamless to the customer. Knowing when
to switch between fibre, microwave and satellite, whether SISLIVE or the customer is in control, takes a great deal ofknowledge and experience.
Record-breaking satellite uplinksSIS LIVE is a major player in the SNG sector and the largestprovider of satellite uplinks in Europe. It provides fixed andmobile uplink services to a range of customers, from thebroadcast and blue light sectors to the military. Its first livebroadcast of a non-sports event was of the fall of the BerlinWall in 1989.
One of the company’s most note-worthy moments camein 2013, when SIS LIVE provided what was, at the time, theworld record for the largest number of simultaneous live feeds(31) during the Red Bull Music Academy’s (RBMA) 15th
birthday celebration. For the event, each of the 30 pods onthe Coca-Cola London Eye hosted a different DJ or artist,which were broadcast live and simultaneously streamedonline. There was also a bespoke Channel 4 live webcast. Atotal of 31 RF feeds were broadcast to SIS LIVE’s RF hubvehicle, encoded by eight servers and broadcast further afieldvia fibre.
Bozza and Meynell explained that a standard hybridbroadcast event takes one week to six months to plan andcosts around £5,000/day. The planning timeline is extendedby 30-90 days and the costs are greater if fibre needs to beinstalled, while complex events take longer still to plan. The2015 Rugby World Cup, which had a viewership of three billion
SIS LIVE currently has around 70 connected venues. Photo courtesy SIS LIVE
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and was the third most-watched event of 2015, took SIS LIVEmore than six months to plan. Satellite and fibre were usedfor the 13 venues and 48 games, while microwave was addedfor the four tier one venues; Olympic, Millennium, Wembleyand Twickenham. While this service cost a great deal, asBozza pointed out, for events like these, there is literally nosecond chance to get it right.
SIS LIVE is currently pushing further into the governmentand blue lights services sector with new product developmentand collaborations with resellers and partners. The companyrecently won a new contract to provide LoStow antennas,which are often used on ambulances, to an Australian bluelights customer.
In the next year, SIS LIVE will provide services for severalmajor recurring events like the Premier League, for whichSky has paid around £20m for the rights to each game. Therewill also be lots of ad-hoc events that the company will bidfor, including the EU Referendum and the Scottish Election.The company is also doing some distribution for live musicevents like Glastonbury Festival.
Not just a services providerIn addition to its services, SIS LIVE also produces a varietyof products that come with optional satellite capacity. Thisincludes antennas, from 0.6m units with no movable parts to1.8m vehicle mount units, as well as uplink and productionvehicles. Its ad-hoc SNG fleet has 19 vehicles, in addition toits 50 contracted SNG vehicles that work for companies likeITV and Sky News.
The products are leased on short or long-term contractsor sold to the broadcast, military, government and emergencyservice sectors. Sky News Arabia recently bought twoantennas that it uses with its own networks, for example.
The uPod and the LoStow antennas have historically beenSIS LIVE’s biggest sellers, although Meynell believes that,moving forward, the ManPakT will become the biggest seller.The company’s sales have changed in recent years frombeing focused in the broadcast industry to now including asignificant number of government sales.
All of SIS LIVE’s products are manufactured in MiltonKeynes. The small design and manufacturing team of around20 means that the company is able to be very responsive tocustomer needs. Amplifier, up-convertor and frequency bandmodifications are all easily achieved.
Developing a significant market presenceSIS LIVE was originally established to provide in-houseservices for the racing and betting sectors, but the companygrew over the years by providing services to third parties asits SNG fleet and infrastructure expanded. SIS LIVE wasseparated from SIS in April 2015 to become a standalonebusiness.
SIS LIVE is a major player on both the local andinternational markets. It provides more than 100,000hr/yr ofsatellite broadcasting and delivers 80 percent of the UK’slive news feeds. The company’s turnover is £35m and its profitis increasing year-on-year.
SIS LIVE’s largest market is UK race courses. Its servicesfor sports events are also growing, particularly in the UK,where demand for live sports is ‘huge.’ Overseas, the companydoes the most business in hardware sales. It sees the most
opportunity in the short and medium-terms in the expansionof its product range, although it has partnered with GeneralDynamic to sell services in the USA.
SIS LIVE’s market share in the SNG segment is notinsignificant, and although it has been hit recently bycompeting technologies like cellular bonding, according toBozza and Meynell, the company has the biggestindependent SNG fleet in the UK, and probably the world.SIS LIVE plans to be the biggest UK broadcaster in the SNGand sports fields within two years. In terms of criticalconnections in contributions services in fibre, the companyhas around 20 percent of the UK market, and plans to growthat to 50 percent in the next two years. In contrast, its teleportservices cover only a small portion of the market share andare mainly contributed to by occasional use (OU) services.SIS LIVE is, however, starting to make more long-term dealsfor teleport services and has just signed a new fixed servicecontract for a long-term uplink to a specific satellite.
Despite competition from other technology, SNG demandremains high. Lots of SIS LIVE’s SNG trucks were quicklytransported to Brussels on 22nd March to report on the terrorattacks there. At such a major event, there are a number ofchallenges, including network contention. In some terrorattack events, the police shut down all of the terrestrialnetworks, which means that cellular bonded connectivityfaces difficulties. In contrast, with an SNG vehicle, there isguaranteed service.
In addition to its services, SIS LIVE also produces a varietyof products that come with optional satellite capacity. Photocourtesy SIS LIVE
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